Baking, a Love Story

Death by the No Nut Chocolate Cookies

My favorite cookbook hands down is Death By Chocolateby Marcel Desaulniers. I can’t say that I’ve actually made more than 10 of the 30 or so recipes, but every recipe I have tried is my new favorite. These triple chocolate cookies are one of those favorites.

They are dark, extra chocolatey, soft with just a slightly crisp outer layer, and they are just a tiny bit salty. Can you think of a more perfect cookie? You can? It’s missing something perhaps? I know, some of you out there are literally jumping up and down shouting…”Where the heck are the nuts?” What was SHE THINKING?

I know you can come along with me on all sorts of crazy foodie journeys, but now I may have just went too far. How could an almost perfect chocolate cookie have gone so awry? You are starting to think I am an impostor chocoholic, but fear not, I am not an impostor, and I do have my reasons (sketchy as they may be) for leaving them out.

If you have been following along my blog as of late you are aware that my immediate family (kids and hubby) are anti-nuts. Seriously! That just bites! I love them (fam. and nuts…that may be synonomous) myself, but sometimes, when I am trying to be “good” and not eat a whole plateful of something devilish and calorie laden, I purposely make it just short of perfect…i.e. leaving out the nuts. Then I don’t feel as tempted.

There’s one BIG problem with this whole scenario…If my dad is reading this blog while on his weekend trip, he is actually shouting at the screen right about now and I should be expecting a disgruntled call shortly. He doesn’t believe in eating anything cookie-like or brownie-ish without nuts, and he lives within 10 minutes of my house so, naturally, he always expects me to share my baking wonders with him— he who is the biggest chocoholic or our clan. Leaving out the nuts is like the ultimate sin, and I, therefore, am the ultimate sinner.

One time, when I was just dating my now husband, I had baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies sans nuts. My boyfriend didn’t like nuts, and I was planning to give most of them to him. BIG MISTAKE. My dad didn’t talk to me for the rest of the day. He was actually pretty upset. If I were to get an F on a test, he would have been fine, but leave the nuts out of the cookies and all he!! breaks loose.

I don’t really think it was the nutless cookies that sent him over the edge, but perhaps it was the fact that his daughter had made some kind of choice, no matter how small, in favor of the boyfriend and not dad. OUCH! Now that I have a teenager, I can see how that could really send a stab through the old parental heart. Maybe there was a symbolic death that day from the no-nut cookies, but somehow we both lived through it.

Today, on the other hand, may be a different story. Before this blog, I was able to secretly bake a batch of cookies without the nuts and he would never know the wiser, but here I am shouting to the world that my devastatingly delicious (I never claimed to be humble) cookies are nut-less. I think I had better quickly go make a second batch with nuts. OK DAD? Did you read that?Are we good now?

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In the top of a double boiler, melt your unsweetened chocolate and the 8 ounces of the semi-sweet chocolate chips. Stir until melted. Set aside the chocolate to cool. In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, unsweetened cocoa, baking soda and salt. In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar on medium speed. Then add one egg at a time, creaming in-between each egg. Add vanilla and combine. Add semi-cooled, melted chocolate and cream together. Dump 1/2 of the dry ingredients into the sugar and chocolate mixture, mix, and then add the last 1/2 of the dry ingredients mixing again until all of the ingredients are well combined. Don’t over mix. Add your 1 c. of chocolate chips and stir together. Drop batter in small icecream scoop fulls onto baking sheet lined with a Silpat mat or parchment paper. Spray coating is not a good idea for cookies in general. It tends to encourage the cookie to spread out and thin out. Bake for 14 minutes or until cookies are still soft when touched but not gooey. They will harden and continue to cook a bit while it cools.

I have a wierd relationship with nuts…I adore almonds but hate pecans! I would probably prefer to leave nuts out of recipes if they include pecans! Perhaps you can just send your dad home with some cookies and a small bag of his own nuts to sprinkle on his own cookies! Great post and great recipe!

Sup… just looked up “haggis” something I saw on a menu in London and was to scared to try. Ended up to be sheep intestines boiled in its stomach. It is also included in a sport called “Haggis hurling” where you throw haggis as far as possible. The present Guinness World Record for Haggis Hurling has been held by Alan Pettigrew for over 25 years. He threw a 1.5 lb Haggis 180 feet, 10 inches on the island of Inchmurrin, Loch Lomond, in August 1984. Also… haggis is Scottish. All done!😀

Hi, Geni. I enjoyed the cute story with the even cuter (OK, super-hot) intense chocolate cookie recipe. While I’ve made some versions which were similar, this one looks as if it has even more chocolate. I must…must…MUST try it.

I concur about pecans or walnuts- either would be a good counterpoint, for flavour and texture here.

Oh yum!! Those cookies look super delicious! I love chocolate, especially dark chocolate. My dad was quite jealous as well when I was dating my now husband, I guess a lot of dads feel in the same boat once their daughters start dating…!

Ok, our stomachs over here are literally growling after reading this. Why do we not have an oven right here, right now, to start baking these? YUM. We’re printing out this recipe RIGHT NOW so we can make them in the near future. Thanks for sharing this!

I love that cookbook- It was literally one of the first ones I ever received. I havent made many of the recipes either, but when I look at the photos, they make me drool. Perhaps I’ll dust this one off soon…Thanks!

Just don’t start on one of the layer cakes…or just plan a whole Saturday to devote to it. The first ones I made really took a lot of time since they require refrigeration between steps, and lots of instructions (i.e. mix the batter for 15 seconds then add one egg…mix the batter for another 15 seconds. :p ). They are ALWAYS worth the time though.

Update: we made these and exclaimed “these are the best cookies ever!” They are so chocolate-y and wonderful, and burnt our tongues on them cause we just couldn’t wait for them to cool as they came out of the oven.
Thanks for sharing this! YUM YUM YUM!